MovieChat Forums > UHF (1989) Discussion > original release date 1989?

original release date 1989?

posted 12 years ago by jimminysnickety
13 replies | jump to latest

I know the date says 1989 but did anyone feel like this was made a few years earlier. Some Movies get put on the shelves for fear there may not be a hit. bad pun not intended. This might have been filmed around the time of the 'Holliwood writer's strike' in 1988. I know Kramer looks quite young unlike his character in 'Seinfeld (1989)'. Fran Drescher looks younger too and Weird Al looks like he normally does. Just felt like the actual date was somewhere 1986-1988. they could have edited some newer stuff right before releasing with the older footage. the beverley hillibilly music video Weird Al Dreams about could have been a late addition to the movie.

[–] ltldog2 12 years ago

There's another thread on here discussing whether it actually came out earlier. I was surprised to see it was from 1989. With the clothes the people were wearing I would have guessed the mid-80s too.

Taking back IMDB message boards....one ignored Troll at a time.

[–] jawaburger-166-605328 10 years ago

I was convinced it was 1988 since I was working at a movie theater that year and I remember seeing it when I was working. I was fired in early 1989, so it may have come out in 1989.

[–] Dr Wily 10 years ago

The movie itself would have been filmed in either 1987 or 1988 to make it into theaters in 1989. Since Al has said that UHF tested the best film for Orion since Robocop, a cut of the film would have to have been made after Robocop was tested, obviously. Robocop came out in 1987, so 1988 was probably when the movie was filmed. The info listed on IMDB says the film was shot 18th July, 1988 through September 1988.

And the film definitely was released in 1989. :) Al even discusses on the DVD commentary how it got swallowed up by the summer of Batman, Do The Right Thing, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Honey I Shrunk The Kids. And I remember playing the soundtrack cassette over and over while I was playing Dragon Warrior on my NES. That game out in either July or August 1989.

IMDB says the release date was July 21st, 1989. This gels with what I said above as I got the soundtrack about a week before I saw the film in theaters the week after it opened.

[–] Vega_Lyra 10 years ago

Don't forget Ghostbusters 2. The summer of '89 was insane movie wise.

As a kid with limited allowance money (and only so many yards I could mow) I had to make some crucial decisions as to what movies I would see. That summer it was Ghostbusters 2 and Batman. Didn't see UHF until it was at the dollar cinema...

That was a tremendous year for film.

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

[–] Dr Wily 10 years ago

I had forgotten about Ghostbusters 2. I was going by memory from Weird Al's list of movies that came out against UHF on the DVD commentary. And I haven't heard that commentary since I last saw the DVD in, get this, 2003. :)

[–] Vega_Lyra 10 years ago

Yeah, I've had that DVD from its release too. It's a great DVD. I wonder if the 25th anniversary blu ray will top it?

I remember my girlfriend (now wife) had just had her wisdom teeth taken out and she needed cheering up. She had never seen the movie before but she and her Mom watched it while I was at work and they hadn't laughed that hard in their life. My girlfriend loved/hated the film because it hurt to laugh, but laugh she did!

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

[–] Dr Wily 10 years ago

I saw the film in theaters, bought the soundtrack when it was first released, bought the VHS on release, and also got the DVD when it was first released.

I've also requested my local library to get the Blu-Ray. They have a few Weird Al items like his children's books, Mandatory Fun (which I requested before it became the #1 album), the Essential collection, the 2 Greatest Hits releases, and the Ultimate Video Collection. I also requested The Compleat Al DVD. Might as well try for more Al at my local library. :)

[–] Vega_Lyra 10 years ago

Sounds like you have an awesome library!

Conquer your fear, and I promise you, you will conquer death.

[–] Dr Wily 10 years ago

I even still have my audio cassettes of all Weird Al's albums that were released on tape. :)

There's actually a practical reason why I keep them. I have the CD's, too, and I discovered something. There are small musical and vocal cues that I can hear on the tapes that I don't hear on the CD's. Like on the Hot Rocks Polka on the UHF soundtrack. That's the track I first noticed these subtle differences on.

I had the tapes before I ever owned a CD player. In fact, I got my first CD player 2 years before the first album that was released on CD only, Running With Scissors.

[–] Doc110894 10 years ago

Fun thread.

[–] AdmiralTugBenson 9 years ago

I also saw it in the theater, twice actually, but I don't really remember it. I do remember seeing the trailer when I was seeing some other movie, and being so excited that I didn't even care about whatever movie it was I saw. I was a huge Weird Al fan, had all his tapes to that point. For some reason I can't remember actually watching it in the theater, possibly because I too bought the VHS when it came out and watched it constantly. So all the viewings are kind of a blur.

As others said, that WAS an awesome summer for movies, I was 9 and I think I spent half the time in the theater. UHF, Batman, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones, License To Kill, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Uncle Buck, Weekend At Bernies... I saw them all. The rest of the year had some great movies as well.

See you guys at the 10 year prison reunion - Ben Richards

[–] AdmiralTugBenson 8 years ago

Summer of '89 was the shiz, I think I spent my entire vacation in the theater, including UHF. Not even James Bond survived that summer. Just a good year overall, not only the summer. Back To the Future II, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The 'Burbs, Major League, Say Anything, Field Of Dreams, Pet Sematary, Tango And Cash, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and many more all came out during the non-summer months of '89.

"Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. Would you like a cookie son?"

[–] the_pants 9 years ago

I agree, this is a fun thread! I only saw UHF for the first time a few months ago and I immediately had to watch it again, so ridiculously funny. I remember seeing a VHS copy on the shelf at a little convenience store in the tiny little beach side town where we used to go on holiday, this was before we even had a VCR so all i could do was look at the cover and imagine how great it must be, i was familiar with some Weird Al songs at the time. By the time we got a VCR i couldn't find a copy anywhere. So watching it now it gives me nostalgic feelings even though i only just saw it recently. Love hearing other people's stories of seeing it at the cinema and buy soundtracks on cassette! I want to order the blu ray but i don't know if it will work on Australian players, might do it anyway. If it ever gets released here it's unlikely it will have all the extras, the DVD is totally bare bones. Probably worth the risk for $30.